United Nations System

Relations with the United Nations Organization

As early as 1946, UNESCO became one of the United Nations specialized agencies and it is linked to the United Nations through a special agreement, which specifies the relations between the two organizations.

The agreement between the United Nations and UNESCO:

reciprocal representation at meetings of the governing bodies. The United Nations are invited to attend UNESCO’s General Conference and Executive Board meetings. UNESCO is invited to attend the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly meetings;

proposal of agenda items to each other’s governing bodies;

implementation of the recommendations made by the United Nations to UNESCO in matters related to its fields of competence and reports thereon;

exchange of information and documents about political initiatives and developments in their respective fields of competence and transmission of reports requested by the General Assembly and ECOSOC and their subsidiary bodies;

provision of information to the Economic and Social Council on the nature and scope of any formal agreement with any other specialized agency, intergovernmental or non-governmental organization before any such agreement is concluded.

UNESCO participates in most of the meetings convened by the United Nations, notably the sessions of the General Assembly and ECOSOC and their subsidiary bodies. Consequently, the UNESCO General Conference and the Executive Board are informed of the decisions and activities of the United Nations of relevance to the work of UNESCO. Likewise the General Assembly and ECOSOC are kept informed of the resolutions and decisions of UNESCO’s governing bodies.